Battery-powered motorized window treatment having a service position

ABSTRACT

A battery-powered motorized window treatment for covering at least a portion of a window may be adjusted into a service position to allow for access to at least one battery that is powering the motorized window treatment. A headrail of the motorized window treatment may be adjusted to the service position to allow for easy replacement of the batteries without unmounting the headrail and without requiring tools. The motorized window treatment may comprise brackets having buttons that may be actuated to release the headrail from a locked position, such that the head rail may be rotated into the service position. The headrail easily rotates through a controlled movement into the service position, such that a user only needs one free hand available to move the motorized window treatment into the service position and change the batteries.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/989,536, filed May 25, 2018, which is a divisional application ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/245,790, filed Aug. 24, 2016, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,982,482, issued May 29, 2018, which is a divisionalapplication of U.S. Ser. No. 14/710,028, filed May 12, 2015, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,447,636, issued Sep. 20, 2016, which is a divisionalapplication of U.S. Ser. No. 13/768,587, filed Feb. 15, 2013, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,045,939, issued Jun. 2, 2015 which is a non-provisionalapplication of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/763,207, filed Feb.11, 2013. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/768,587 is acontinuation-in-part application of commonly-assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/415,246, filed Mar. 8, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No.8,851,141, issued Oct. 7, 2014, entitled BATTERY-POWERED MOTORIZEDWINDOW TREATMENT HAVING A SERVICE POSITION, which is a non-provisionalapplication of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/451,960, filed Mar.11, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/530,799, filed Sep. 2,2011, both entitled MANUAL ROLLER SHADE SYSTEM. U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/989,536 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No.15/689,653, filed Aug. 29, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,590,700, issuedMar. 17, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 14/980,549,filed Dec. 28, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,745,796, issued Aug. 29, 2017,which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 14/478,296, filed Sep. 5, 2014,now U.S. Pat. No. 9,249,624, issued Feb. 2, 2016, which is acontinuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/415,246, filed Mar. 8, 2012, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,851,141, issued Oct. 7, 2014, which is a non-provisionalapplication of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/451,960, filed Mar.11, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/530,799, filedSep. 2, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/547,319, filedOct. 14, 20110, each entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW TREATMENT; thedisclosures of each of the above identified Applications and Patents arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a motorized window treatment, and morespecifically, to a battery-powered motorized window blind or rollershade system having a service position to allow for easy removal andinstallation of batteries.

Description of the Related Art

Motorized window treatments typically include a flexible fabric or othermeans for covering a window in order to block or limit the daylightentering a space and to provide privacy. The motorized window treatmentsmay comprise roller shades, cellular shades, Roman shades, Venentianblinds, and draperies. The motorized window treatments include a motordrive for movement of the fabric in front of the window to control theamount of the window that is covered by the fabric. For example, amotorized roller shade includes a flexible shade fabric wound onto anelongated roller tube with an electronic drive unit installed in theroller tube. The electronic drive unit includes a motor, such as adirect-current (DC) motor, which is operable to rotate the roller tubeupon being energized by a DC voltage.

Prior art electronic drive units are typically powered directly from anAC mains line voltage (e.g., 120 VAC) or from a low-voltage DC voltage(e.g., approximately 24 VDC) provided by an external transformer.Unfortunately, this requires that electrical wires to be run from thepower source to the electronic drive unit. Running additional AC mainline voltage wiring to the electronic drive unit can be very expensive,due to the cost of the additional electrical wiring as well as the costof installation. Typically, installing new AC main line voltage wiringrequires a licensed electrician to perform the work. In addition, if thepre-existing wiring runs behind a fixed ceiling or wall (e.g., onecomprising plaster or expensive hardwood), the electrician may need tobreach the ceiling or wall to install the new electrical wiring, whichwill thus require subsequent repair. In some installations where lowvoltage (e.g., from a low-voltage DC transformer) is used to the powerthe electronic drive unit, the electrical wires have been mounted on anexternal surface of a wall or ceiling between the electronic drive unitand the transformer, which is plugged into an electrical receptacle.However, this sort of installation requires the permanent use of one ofthe outlets of the electrical receptacle and is aesthetically unpleasingdue to the external electrical wires.

Therefore, some prior art motorized window treatments have been batterypowered, such that the motorized window treatments may be installedwithout requiring any additional wiring. Examples of prior artbattery-powered motorized window treatments are described in greaterdetail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,480, issued Mar. 16, 1999, entitled WINDOWCOVERING WITH HEAD RAIL-MOUNTED ACTUATOR; U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,646,issued Nov. 23, 2009, entitled REMOTELY-CONTROLLED BATTERYPOWERED-WINDOW COVERING HAVING POWER SAVING RECEIVER; and U.S. Pat. No.7,389,806, issued Jun. 24, 2008, entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW SHADE SYSTEM;the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

However, the typical prior art battery-powered motorized windowtreatments have suffered from poor battery life (such as, one year orless), and have required batteries that are difficult and expensive toreplace. Thus, there is a need for a low-cost battery-powered motorizedwindow treatment that has longer battery life and makes battery powerpractical and convenient for the end user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a low-cost, quiet, battery-poweredmotorized window treatment (e.g., a cellular shade or a roller shade)for controlling the position of a covering material that is adapted tohang in front of an opening, such as a window. The motorized windowtreatment is powered by batteries that are not expensive to replace andhave a much longer (and more practical) lifetime than the typical priorart battery-powered motorized window treatment (e.g., approximatelythree years). The batteries may be located inside an enclosure (e.g., aheadrail) of the motorized window treatment and thus out of view of auser of the motorized window treatment. The enclosure may be adjusted toa service position to provide access to the batteries to allow for easyreplacement of the batteries without unmounting the motorized windowtreatment. No tools are required to move the motorized window treatmentinto the service position, and the motorized window treatment easilyrotates through a controlled movement into the service position. Theuser only needs one free hand available to move the motorized windowtreatment into the service position and change the batteries, such thatthe other hand may be used to balance the user, for example, by holdingonto a ladder.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a battery-poweredmotorized window treatment is adapted to be mounted to a surface forcovering at least a portion of a window and may be adjusted into aservice position to allow for access to at least one battery that ispowering the motorized window treatment. The motorized window treatmentcomprises a covering material, a motor drive unit adapted to be disposednear a top of the window for controlling the covering material between afully-opened and a fully-closed position, an enclosure also adapted tobe disposed near the top of the window, and at least one mountingbracket for coupling the enclosure to the surface. The enclosureincludes a compartment for receiving the at least one battery forpowering the motor drive unit. The mounting bracket remains coupled tothe surface and the enclosure remains coupled to the mounting bracketwhen the motorized window treatment is in the service position.

In addition, a mounting bracket for a motorized window treatment that isadapted to be mounted to a surface and includes an enclosure and acovering material adapted to hang from a position adjacent the enclosureto cover at least a portion of a window is also described herein. Themounting bracket comprises a mounting portion adapted to be fastened tothe surface, and a rotating portion that is coupled to a top side of theenclosure and comprises a clip adapted to be coupled to a bottom side ofthe enclosure. The mounting bracket further comprises an axle forrotatably coupling the rotating portion to the mounting portion, suchthat the rotating portion pivots about the axle with respect to themounting portion. The axle is located below the clip of the rotatingportion, such that the center of gravity of the motorized windowtreatment is adapted to cause the enclosure to rotate away from thewindow on its own.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, abattery-powered motorized roller shade comprises: (1) first and secondroller tube end brackets; (2) a roller tube mounted between the firstand second roller tube brackets; (3) a flexible shade fabric windinglyreceived around the roller tube, the shade fabric having a first fabricend connected to the roller tube and a second fabric end opposite thefirst fabric end; (4) a motor drive unit located inside the roller tubefor controlling the covering material between a fully-opened and afully-closed position; (5) an enclosure connected to the first andsecond roller tube end brackets, the enclosure including a compartmentfor receiving at least one battery for powering the motor drive unit;and (6) at least one mounting bracket for coupling the enclosure to asurface. The motorized roller tube is operable to be adjusted into aservice position in which access is provided to the at least onebattery. The mounting bracket remains coupled to the surface and theenclosure remains coupled to the mounting bracket when the motorizedroller shade is in the service position.

A method of changing batteries of a battery-powered motorized windowtreatment connected to a location at the top of a window is alsodescribed herein. The method comprises: (1) mounting the batteries in anopen-ended enclosure fixed to a motor drive unit of the motorized windowtreatment; and (2) rotating the motor drive unit and the enclosure froman installed position to a service position to expose the batteriescontained within the enclosure without removing the motor drive unit andthe enclosure from the window.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the invention that refers tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in greater detail in the followingdetailed description with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example motorized window treatmentsystem having a battery-powered motorized window treatment and a remotecontrol;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the battery-powered motorized windowtreatment of FIG. 1 in a full-opened position;

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the battery-powered motorized windowtreatment of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the battery-powered motorized window treatmentof FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a motor drive unit of amotorized window treatment (e.g., the motorized window treatment of FIG.1 );

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a motorized window treatment as themotorized window treatment is being moved to a service position;

FIG. 6B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.6A as the motorized window treatment is being moved to the serviceposition;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.6A when the motorized window treatment is in the service position;

FIG. 7B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.6A when the motorized window treatment is in the service position;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of the motorizedwindow treatment of FIG. 6A showing how a screw is received in a channelof an endcap of the motorized window treatment;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an example motorized window treatment asthe motorized window treatment is being moved to a service position;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.9 when the motorized window treatment is in the service position;

FIG. 11A is a perspective view of a motorized window treatment havingmounting brackets for rotating the motorized window treatment into aservice position;

FIG. 11B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.11A;

FIG. 12A is a perspective view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.11A in the service position;

FIG. 12B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.11A in the service position;

FIG. 13A is an enlarged perspective view of one of the mounting bracketsof the motorized window treatment of FIG. 11A in a locked position;

FIG. 13B is an enlarged perspective view of the mounting bracket of FIG.13A in the service position;

FIG. 14A is a top view of one of the mounting brackets of FIG. 13A inthe locked position showing a latch mechanism in greater detail;

FIG. 14B is a top view of the mounting bracket of FIG. 13A as a releasebutton is being actuated to release mounting bracket from the lockedposition;

FIGS. 15A and 15B are enlarged perspective views of an alternativeexample of a mounting bracket for a motorized window treatment shown ina locked position and a service position, respectively;

FIGS. 16A and 16B are left side cross-sectional views of the mountingbracket of FIGS. 15A and 15B shown in the locked position and theservice position, respectively;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an example motorized window treatmentsystem having a battery-powered motorized roller shade;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the motorized roller shade of FIG. 17in a locked position when the roller shade fabric is in a fully-openposition; and

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the motorized roller shade of FIG. 17in the service position when the roller shade fabric is in thefully-open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofthe preferred embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunctionwith the appended drawings. For the purposes of illustrating theinvention, there is shown in the drawings an embodiment that ispresently preferred, in which like numerals represent similar partsthroughout the several views of the drawings, it being understood,however, that the invention is not limited to the specific methods andinstrumentalities disclosed.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example motorized window treatmentsystem 100 having a battery-powered motorized window treatment 110mounted in an opening 102, for example, in front of a window 104. Thebattery-powered motorized window treatment 110 comprises a coveringmaterial, for example, a cellular shade fabric 112 as shown in FIG. 1 .The cellular shade fabric 112 has a top end connected to a headrail 114(e.g., an open-ended enclosure) and a bottom end connected to aweighting element 116. The headrail 114 extends between two mountingplates 115 that may be connected to the sides of the opening 102 asshown in FIG. 1 . The cellular shade fabric 112 is able to hang from aposition adjacent to the headrail 114 (e.g., on the headrail) in frontof the window 104, and may be adjusted between a fully-open positionP_(FULLY-OPEN) and a fully-closed position P_(FULLY-CLOSED) to controlthe amount of daylight entering a room or space. Alternatively, themounting plates 115 of the battery-powered motorized window treatment110 could be mounted externally to the opening 102 (e.g., above theopening) with the shade fabric 112 hanging in front of the opening andthe window 104. In addition, the battery-powered motorized windowtreatment 110 could alternatively comprise other types of coveringmaterials, such as, for example, a plurality of horizontally-extendingslats (i.e., a Venetian or Persian blind system), pleated blinds, aroller shade fabric, or a Roman shade fabric. The motorized windowtreatment system 100 comprises an infrared (IR) remote control 118 forcontrolling the operation of the motorized window treatment 110.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view and FIG. 3 is a right side view of thebattery-powered motorized window treatment 110 with the cellular shadefabric 112 in the fully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN). The motorizedwindow treatment 110 comprises a motor drive unit 120 for raising andlowering the weighting element 116 and the cellular shade fabric 112between the fully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN) and the fully-closedposition P_(FULLY-CLOSED). By controlling the amount of the window 104covered by the cellular shade fabric 112, the motorized window treatment110 is able to control the amount of daylight entering the room. Theheadrail 114 of the motorized window treatment 110 comprises an internalside 122 and an opposite external side 124, which faces the window 104that the shade fabric 112 is covering. The motor drive unit 120comprises an actuator 126, which is positioned adjacent the internalside 122 of the headrail 114 may may be actuated when a user isconfiguring the motorized window treatment 110. The actuator 126 may bemade of, for example, a clear material, such that the actuator mayoperate as a light pipe to conduct illumination from inside the motordrive unit 120 to thus be provide feedback to the user of the motorizedwindow treatment 110. In addition, the actuator 126 may also function asan IR-receiving lens for directing IR signals transmitted by the IRremote control 118 to an IR receiver 166 (FIG. 11 ) inside the motordrive unit 120. The motor drive unit 120 is operable to determine atarget position P_(TARGET) for the weighting element 116 in response tocommands included in the IR signals received from the remote control 118and to subsequently control a present position P_(PRES) of the weightingelement to the target position P_(TARGET). As shown in FIG. 2 , a topside 128 of the headrail 114 is open (i.e., an open end of the headrailfaces upwardly), such that the motor drive unit 120 may be positionedinside the headrail and the actuator 126 may protrude slightly over theinternal side 122 of the headrail.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the battery-powered motorized window treatment110 with a front portion of the headrail 114 removed to show the motordrive unit 120. The motorized window treatment 110 comprises lift cords130 that extend from the headrail 114 to the weighting element 116 forallowing the motor drive unit 120 to raise and lower the weightingelement. The motor drive unit 120 includes an internal motor 150 (FIG. 5) coupled to drive shafts 132 that extend from the motor on each side ofthe motor and are each coupled to a respective lift cord spool 134. Thelift cords 130 are windingly received around the lift cord spools 134and are fixedly attached to the weighting element 116, such that themotor drive unit 120 is operable to rotate the drive shafts 132 to raiseand lower the weighting element. The motorized window treatment 110further comprises two constant-force spring assist assemblies 135, whichare each coupled to the drive shafts 132 adjacent to one of the two liftcord spools 134. Each of the lift cord spools 134 and the adjacentconstant-force spring assist assembly 135 are housed in a respectivelift cord spool enclosure 136 as shown in FIG. 4 . Alternatively, themotor drive unit 120 could be located at either end of the headrail 114and the motorized window treatment 110 could comprise a single driveshaft that extends along the length of the headrail and is coupled toboth of the lift cord spools 134.

The battery-powered motorized window treatment 110 also comprises aplurality of batteries 138 (e.g., four D-cell batteries), which areelectrically coupled in series. The series-combination of the batteries138 is coupled to the motor drive unit 120 for powering the motor driveunit. The batteries 138 are housed inside the headrail 114 and thus outof view of a user of the motorized window treatment 110. Specifically,the batteries 138 are mounted in two battery holders 139 located insidethe headrail 114, such that there are two batteries in each batteryholder as shown in FIG. 4 . The batteries 138 provide the motorizedwindow treatment 110 with a practical lifetime (e.g., approximatelythree years), and are typical “off-the-shelf” batteries that are easyand not expensive to replace. Alternatively, the motor drive unit 120could comprise more batteries (e.g., six or eight) coupled in series orbatteries of a different kind (e.g., AA batteries) coupled in series.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a motor drive unit for abattery-powered motorized window treatment (e.g., the motor drive unit120 of the battery-powered motorized window treatment 110). The motordrive unit 120 comprises a controller 152 for controlling the operationof the motor 150, which may comprise, for example, a DC motor. Thecontroller 152 may comprise, for example, a microprocessor, aprogrammable logic device (PLD), a microcontroller, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), or any suitable processing device or control circuit. Thecontroller 152 is coupled to an H-bridge motor drive circuit 154 fordriving the motor 150 via a set of drive signals V_(DRIVE) to controlthe weighting element 116 and the cellular shade fabric 112 between thefully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN) and the fully-closed positionP_(FULLY-CLOSED). The controller 152 is operable to rotate the motor 150at a constant rotational speed by controlling the H-bridge motor drivecircuit 154 to supply a pulse-width modulated (PWM) drive signal havinga constant duty cycle to the motor. The controller 152 is able to changethe rotational speed of the motor 150 by adjusting the duty cycle of thePWM signal applied to the motor and to change the direction of rotationof the motor by changing the polarity of the PWM drive signal applied tothe motor.

The controller 152 receives information regarding the rotationalposition and direction of rotation of the motor 150 from a rotationalposition sensor, such as, for example, a transmissive optical sensorcircuit 156. The rotational position sensor may also comprise othersuitable position sensors, such as, for example, Hall-effect, optical orresistive sensors. The controller 152 is operable to determine arotational position of the motor 150 in response to the transmissiveoptical sensor circuit 156, and to use the rotational position of themotor to determine a present position P_(PRES) of the weighting element116. The controller 152 may comprise an internal non-volatile memory (oralternatively, an external memory coupled to the controller) for storageof the present position P_(PRES) of the shade fabric 112, the fully openposition P_(FULLY-OPEN), and the fully closed position P_(FULLY-CLOSED).The operation of the H-bridge motor drive circuit 154 and the use ofsensor devices to track the direction and speed of the motor drive unit120 is described in greater detail in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No.5,848,634, issued Dec. 15, 1998, entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW SHADE SYSTEM,and commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,267, issued Dec. 24, 2002,entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW SHADE WITH ULTRAQUIET MOTOR DRIVE AND ESDPROTECTION, the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated byreference.

As previously mentioned, the motor drive unit 120 receives power fromthe series-coupled batteries 138, which provide a battery voltageV_(BATT). For example, the batteries 138 may comprise D-cell batterieshaving rated voltages of approximately 1.5 volts, such that the batteryvoltage V_(BATT) has a magnitude of approximately 6 volts. The H-bridgemotor drive circuit 154 receives the battery voltage V_(BATT) fordriving the motor 150. The motor drive unit 120 further comprises apower supply 158 (e.g., a linear regulator) that receives the batteryvoltage V_(BATT) and generates a DC supply voltage V_(CC) (e.g.,approximately 3.3 volts) for powering the controller 152 and otherlow-voltage circuitry of the motor drive unit.

The motor drive unit 120 comprises an internal temperature sensor 160that is located adjacent the internal side 122 of the headrail 114(i.e., a room-side temperature sensor), and a external temperaturesensor 162 that is located adjacent the external side 124 of theheadrail (i.e., a window-side temperature sensor). The room-sidetemperature sensor 160 is operable to measure an interior temperatureT_(INT) inside the room in which the motorized window treatment 110 isinstalled, while the external temperature sensor 162 is operable tomeasure an exterior temperature TEXT between the headrail 114 and thewindow 104. The motor drive unit 120 further comprises a photosensor164, which is located adjacent the external side 124 of the headrail114, and is directed to measure the amount of sunlight that may beshining on the window 104. Alternatively, the exterior (window-side)temperature sensor 162 may be implemented as a sensor label (external tothe headrail 114 of the battery powered motorized window treatment 110)that is operable to be affixed to an inside surface of a window. Thesensor label may be coupled to the motor drive unit 120 through lowvoltage wiring (not shown).

The controller 152 receives inputs from the internal temperature sensor160, the external temperature sensor 162, the photosensor 164, and theIR receiver 166. The controller 152 may operate in an eco-mode tocontrol the position of the weighting element 116 and the cellular shadefabric 112 in response to the internal temperature sensor 160, theexternal temperature sensor 162, and the photosensor 164, so as toprovide energy savings. When operating in the eco-mode, the controller152 adjusts the amount of the window 104 covered by the cellular shadefabric 112 to attempt to save energy, for example, by reducing theamount of electrical energy consumed by other control systems in thebuilding in which the motorized window treatment 110 is installed. Forexample, the controller 152 may adjust the present position P_(PRES) ofthe weighting element 116 to control the amount of daylight entering theroom in which the motorized window treatment 110 is installed, such thatlighting loads in the room may be turned off or dimmed to thus saveenergy. In addition, the controller 152 may adjust the present positionP_(PRES) of the weighting element 116 to control the heat flow throughthe window 104 in order to lighten the load on the heating,air-conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) system in the building in whichthe motorized window treatment 110 is installed.

A user of the window treatment system 100 is able to adjust the positionof the weighting element 116 and the cellular shade fabric 112 by usingthe remote control 118 to transmit commands to the motor drive unit 120via the IR signals. The IR receiver 166 receives the IR signals andprovides an IR data control signal V_(IR-DATA) to the controller 152,such that the controller is operable to receive the commands from theremote control 118. The controller 152 is operable to put the IRreceiver 166 to sleep (i.e., disable the IR receiver) and toperiodically wake the IR receiver up (i.e., enable the IR receiver) viaan IR enable control signal V_(IR-EN), as will be described in greaterdetail below. An example of an IR control system is described in greaterdetail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,434, issued Apr. 8, 2003, entitledMULTI-SCENE PRESET LIGHTING CONTROLLER, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference. Alternatively, the IR receiver 166could comprise a radio-frequency (RF) receiver or transceiver forreceiving RF signals transmitted by an RF remote control. Examples of RFcontrol systems are described in greater detail in commonly-assignedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/033,223, filed Feb. 19, 2008,entitled COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL FOR A RADIO-FREQUENCY LOAD CONTROLSYSTEM, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/415,084, filed Mar. 8,2012, entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW TREATMENT, the entire disclosures ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

To allow the user to change the batteries 138 when needed, the motorizedwindow treatment 110 is operable to be adjusted to a service position,in which the open top of the headrail 114 is positioned to allow foreasy access to the batteries. FIG. 6A is a perspective view and FIG. 6Bis a right side view of a motorized window treatment (e.g., themotorized window treatment 110) as the motorized window treatment isbeing moved to a service position. FIG. 7A is a perspective view andFIG. 7B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment 110 whenthe motorized window treatment is in the service position. The motorizedwindow treatment 110 comprises two endcaps 170 located at each side ofthe headrail 114. The endcaps 170 each comprise a channel 172, whichreceives a screw 174 (i.e., a protuberance or pin) that extends throughan opening 175 (FIG. 8 ) in the adjacent mounting bracket 115. FIG. 8 isan enlarged perspective view of one end of the motorized windowtreatment 110 showing how the screw 174 is received in the channel 172of the endcap 170. When the motorized window treatment 110 is in anormal position (as shown in FIG. 3 ), each screw 174 rests in an end176 of the respective channel 172, such that the headrail 114 is held inposition between the mounting brackets 115 and the shade fabric 112hangs vertically below the headrail.

When the batteries 138 need to be accessed, the headrail 114 may belifted up by a user, such that the screws 174 are no longer positionedin the respective ends 176 and may travel through the channels 172 asshown in FIG. 6B. Each screw 172 may then come to rest in an elbow 178of the respective channel 172 as shown in FIG. 7B, such that themotorized window treatment 110 is in the service position. When in theservice position, the headrail 114 is operable to pivot about the screws174 in the respective elbows 178 to allow the user to access thebatteries 138 from the top of the headrail. To remove the headrail 114from the mounting brackets 115, the user may lift the headrail 114 tomove the screws 174 through the respective channels 172 and out ofrespective channel openings 179.

Accordingly, the headrail 114 is adapted to be moved down and away fromthe window 104 and into the service position, so that the headrail maythen be tilted to allow the user to access the batteries 138 without theuse of tools. Since the headrail 114 is moved horizontally away from thewindow 104 when in the service position, there is room between theheadrail and the window in which the shade fabric 112 may be locatedwhen the top of the headrail 114 is rotated towards the user.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are perspective views of an example motorized windowtreatment 210 having a headrail 214 that may be pulled out in ahorizontal direction away from a window and then rotated into a serviceposition to allow access to batteries (e.g., the batteries 138). Themotorized window treatment 210 comprises top mounting brackets 215located over the top of the headrail 214, and plates 219 that arereceived in the mounting brackets. The user is operable to pull theheadrail 214 away from the window, such that the plates 219 slidethrough the mounting brackets 215 as shown in FIG. 9 . The plates 219are then able to pivot with respect to the mounting brackets 215, suchthat the top of the headrail 214 may be rotated towards the user toallow access to the batteries 138 located in the headrail as shown inFIG. 10 .

FIG. 11A is a perspective view and FIG. 11B is a right side view of anexample motorized window treatment 310 having mounting brackets 370 forrotating the motorized window treatment into a service position. FIG.12A is a perspective view and FIG. 12B is a right side view of themotorized window treatment 310 when the motorized window treatment 310is in the service position. Each mounting bracket 370 of the motorizedwindow treatment 310 comprises a release button 372, which may beactuated (e.g., pushed) to release a headrail (e.g., the headrail 114)from a locked position (as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B), such that theheadrail 114 may be rotated into the service position and batteries inthe headrail (e.g., the batteries 138) may be accessed (as shown inFIGS. 12A and 12B). Specifically, the open end of the headrail 114 isrotated to a position laterally away from the window and downward toexpose the batteries 138 in the headrail.

The release buttons 372 are located above the headrail 114 and protrudeslightly over the internal side 122 of the headrail, such that thebuttons are partially hidden from view when the motorized windowtreatment 310 is installed. The release buttons 372 may be labeled withappropriate text (such as “push”) to inform the user of the requiredaction to release the motorized window treatment 310 from the lockedposition. The headrail 114 is flexible enough, such that the buttons 372of the mounting brackets 370 may be actuated one at a time in order torelease the headrail from the locked position. Accordingly, no tools arerequired to release the motorized window treatment 310 from the lockedposition to enter the service position. Alternatively, the releasebuttons 372 may be implemented as pull-tabs or the motorized windowtreatment 310 could comprise latches that require tools to be unlatched.

FIG. 13A is an enlarged perspective view of one of the mounting brackets370 in the locked position. FIG. 13B is an enlarged perspective view ofthe mounting bracket 370 in the service position. The mounting bracket370 comprises a fixed mounting portion 374 and a rotating portion 375that is rotatably coupled to the mounting portion 374 via an axle rod376. The mounting portion 374 is adapted to be fastened to a verticalsurface (e.g., a wall) via screws (not shown) received through mountingholes 378 or to be fastened to a horizontal surface (e.g., a ceiling orthe top of an opening) via screws received through mounting holes 379.The rotating portion 374 is adapted to be connected to the headrail 114of the motorized window treatment 310 via a lip 380 and a clip 382.Specifically, the internal side 122 of the headrail 114 is adapted torest on the lip 380 (as shown in FIG. 12A) and the bottom side of theexternal side 124 of the headrail is adapted to snap into the clip 382.When a user actuates the release button 372, the rotating portion 374 isoperable to pivot about the axle rod 376 thus rotating the top of theheadrail 114 towards the user into the service position, such that thebatteries 138 may be accessed.

As shown in FIG. 11B, the axle rod 376 about which the rotating portion374 pivots is located below the headrail 114, such that when themotorized window treatment 310 is released from the locked position, thecenter of gravity of the headrail causes the top of the headrail torotate down on its own (i.e., without the need for the user tophysically rotate the top of the headrail towards the user) with orwithout the batteries 138 installed in the headrail. The axle rod 376 ispositioned above the weighting element 116 (i.e., behind the cellularshade fabric 112) when the motorized window treatment 310 is in thefully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN), such that the mounting brackets 370cannot be seen by the user.

Each mounting bracket 370 also comprises a coil spring 384, which iswound around the axle rod 376 and comprises an inside leg 385 that ispositioned on the inner side of the rotating portion 375 and an outsideleg (not shown) that is positioned on the outer side of the mountingportion 374. The spring 384 operates to provide a controlled movement ofthe motorized window treatment 310 when the headrail 114 is releasedfrom the locked position and the rotating portion 375 rotates about theaxle rod 376 into the service position. The spring 384 also limits thedistance that the headrail 114 is able to be rotated (e.g., to preventthe batteries 138 from falling out of the headrail). The inside leg 385contacts the rotating portion 375 and the outside leg contacts themounting portion 374 to bias the rotating portion towards the mountingportion. The spring 384 is sized such that the headrail 114 rotates downon its own, but does not rotate so far that the batteries 138 are ableto fall out of the headrail. Since the user may individually actuate thebuttons 372 of the mounting brackets 370 to cause the headrail 114 moveinto the service position, the user only needs one free hand availableto move the motorized window treatment 310 into the service position andchange the batteries 138 (i.e., the other hand may be used to balancethe user, for example, by holding onto a ladder).

Each mounting bracket 370 further comprises a latch mechanism 386coupled to the respective button 372. The latch mechanism 286 locks therotating portion 375 in the locked position, and releases the rotatingportion to allow the headrail 114 to move into the service position inresponse to an actuation of the release button 372. FIG. 14A is a topview of one of the mounting brackets 370 in the locked position showingthe latch mechanism 386 in greater detail. FIG. 14B is a top view of themounting bracket 370 as the release button 372 is being actuated torelease the rotating portion 375 from the locked position. The latchmechanism 386 comprises a notch 388 adapted to contact a locking surface390 (FIG. 13B) of the rotating portion 375 to hold the rotating portionin the locked position. The latch mechanism 386 further comprises anelongated spring member 392 adapted to push against a wall 394 of themounting portion 374 to thus keep the notch 388 locked against thelocking surface 390. When the release button 372 is pushed in towardsthe mounting bracket 370, the latch mechanism 386 rotates about a rivet395, a pin 396 travels through a channel 398 to guide the movement ofthe latch mechanism, and the spring member 392 flexes against the wall394. Accordingly, the notch 388 of the latch mechanism 386 no longercontacts the locking surface 390 of the rotating portion 375, such thatthe rotating portion and the headrail 114 are able to rotate freelyabout the axle rod 376.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are enlarged perspective views of an alternate exampleof a mounting bracket 470 for a motorized window treatment (e.g., themotorized window treatment 310). Specifically, the mounting bracket 470is shown in a locked position in FIG. 15A and in a service position inFIG. 15B. The mounting bracket 470 comprises a release button 472 thatmay be pushed to release the headrail 114 from the locked position, suchthat the headrail 114 may be rotated into the service position and thebatteries 138 may be accessed. The mounting bracket 470 comprises afixed mounting portion 474 and a rotating portion 475 that is rotatablycoupled to the mounting portion via an axle rod 476. The mountingportion 474 may be mounted to a vertical surface or a horizontal surfacevia screws (not shown) received through vertical mounting holes 478 orhorizontal mounting holes 479, respectively. The rotating portion 474comprises a lip 480 and a clip 482 for connecting to the headrail 114 ofthe motorized window treatment 310 in a similar manner as the mountingbrackets 370. When a user actuates the release button 472, the rotatingportion 474 pivots about the axle rod 476 thus rotating the top of theheadrail 114 towards the user into the service position, such that thebatteries 138 may be accessed.

The mounting portion 474 comprises two spring arms 484 (one of which isshown in FIG. 15B) that contact the rotating portion 475. FIGS. 16A and16B are left side cross-sectional views of the mounting bracket 470taken through the center of the left spring arm 484 with the mountingbracket shown in the locked position and the service position,respectively. The spring arms 484 contact cam portions 485 on therotating portion 475 to provide a controlled movement of the motorizedwindow treatment 310 when the headrail 114 is released from the lockedposition and the rotating portion rotates about the axle rod 476 intothe service position. Alternatively, the rotating portion 475 couldcomprise one or more spring arms for contacting respective cam portionsof the mounting portion 474.

Referring back to FIGS. 15A and 15B, the mounting bracket 470 furthercomprises a latch mechanism 486 that locks the rotating portion 475 inthe locked position, and releases the rotating portion to allow theheadrail 114 to move into the service position in response to anactuation of the release button 472. The latch mechanism 486 comprises anotch 488 and an elongated spring member 492 adapted to push against atab 494 of the mounting portion 474 to hold the notch 488 against alocking surface 490 of the rotating portion 475 to thus hold therotating portion in the locked position. When the release button 472 ispushed in towards the mounting bracket 470, the latch mechanism 486rotates and the spring member 492 flexes against the wall 494 until thenotch 488 no longer contacts the locking surface 490 of the rotatingportion 475 and the rotating portion 475 is able to rotate freely aboutthe axle rod 476.

While the battery-powered motorized window treatment has been describedhaving the cellular shade fabric 112, the concepts described hereincould be applied to other types of motorized window treatments, such as,for example, Roman shades and Venetian blinds. An example of a Romanshade system is described in greater detail in commonly-assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/784,096, filed Mar. 20, 2010, entitledROMAN SHADE SYSTEM, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference. An example of a Venetian blind system isdescribed in greater detail in commonly-assigned U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/384,005, filed Sep. 17, 2010, entitled MOTORIZEDVENETIAN BLIND SYSTEM, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an example motorized window treatmentsystem 500 having a battery-powered motorized roller shade 510. Themotorized roller shade 510 comprises a covering material, for example, aflexible roller shade fabric 512, and a roller tube 514 that isrotatably coupled between two roller tube end brackets 516. The shadefabric 512 has a top end that is connected to the roller tube 514 andextends from the roller tube to a hembar 518 at a bottom end. The shadefabric 512 raises and is windingly received around the roller tube 514as the roller tube rotates in a first direction and lowers to cover thewindow as the roller tube rotates in a second opposite direction.Alternatively, the flexible roller shade fabric 512 could comprise awoven cloth, a non-woven material, a light control film, a screen, amesh material, a scrim material, or any suitable covering materialadapted to be windingly received around the roller tube 514.

The motorized roller shade 510 may further comprise a motor drive unit520 located inside the roller tube 514 for rotating the roller tube tothus raise and lower the shade fabric 512 between a fully-open positionP_(FULLY-OPEN) and a fully-closed position P_(FULLY-CLOSED) to controlthe amount of daylight entering a room or space. The motor drive unit520 may comprise a wireless receiver (not shown), for example, aradio-frequency (RF) receiver, operable to receive RF signals 532 froman RF remote control 530 for controlling the operation of the motorizedroller shade 510. The RF remote control 530 is operable to transmitdigital messages including commands to control the motorized rollershade 510 via the RF signals 532 in response to actuations of aplurality of buttons, e.g., an open button 540, a close button 542, araise button 544, a lower button 546, and a preset button 548. The motordrive unit 520 controls the roller shade fabric 512 to the fully-openposition P_(FULLY-OPEN) and the fully-closed position P_(FULLY-CLOSED)in response to actuations of the open button 540 and the close button542 of the remote control 530, respectively. The motor drive unit 520raises and lowers the roller shade fabric 512 in response to actuationsof the raise button 544 and the lower button 546, respectively. Themotor drive unit 520 controls the roller shade fabric 512 to a presetposition P_(PRESET) in response to actuations of the preset button 748.The structure of an RF motorized roller shade is described in greaterdetail in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,723,939, issued May 25,2010, entitled RADIO-FREQUENCY CONTROLLED ROLLER SHADE, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The motorized roller shade 510 further comprises a battery enclosure 550(e.g., an open-ended enclosure) that is connected to and extends betweenthe roller tube end brackets 516 (i.e., for approximately the width ofthe shade fabric 512), such that the shade fabric 512 hangs from aposition adjacent the enclosure (e.g., on the roller tube 514). Thebattery enclosure 550 holds one or more series-connected batteries 552(FIG. 19 ) that are electrically coupled to the motor drive unit 520 inthe roller tube 514 for powering the motor drive unit. The batteries 552may be received in a battery compartment 554 (FIG. 19 ), i.e., a channelor opening, on a rear side of the battery enclosure 500. The batterycompartment 554 may also comprise a battery holder (not shown) havingcurved tabs or tongs for holding the batteries 552 in the batterycompartment. The battery enclosure 550 may also comprise an RF antenna(not shown) electrically coupled to the RF transceiver in the motordrive unit 520 for receiving the RF signals 532. Alternatively, theantenna could simply extend from the motor drive unit 520 and hang fromone of the roller tube end brackets 516. In addition, the motor driveunit 520 could alternatively comprise an RF transceiver for transmittingand receiving the RF signals 532 via the antenna.

The motorized roller shade 510 further comprises two mounting brackets570 coupled to the enclosure 550 for mounting the motorized roller shadeto a vertical or horizontal surface. The mounting brackets 570 allow themotorized roller shade 510 to be rotated into a service position inwhich batteries 552 may be accessed. FIG. 18 is a perspective view ofthe motorized roller shade 510 in a locked position when the rollershade fabric 512 is in the fully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN). When themotorized roller shade 510 is in a locked position, an open end of thebattery enclosure 550 may face towards the window. FIG. 19 is aperspective view of the motorized roller shade 510 in the serviceposition when the roller shade fabric 512 is in the fully-open positionP_(FULLY-OPEN). The mounting brackets 570 may each have a similarstructure to the mounting brackets 370, 470 shown in FIGS. 13A-16B. Inthe service position, the open end of the battery enclosure 550 isrotated to face upwardly to expose the open end of the battery enclosurefor access to the batteries 552 contained within the enclosure withoutremoving the motorized window treatment from the mounting location atthe top of the window.

Each rotatable mounting bracket 570 of the motorized roller shade 510comprises a release button 572, which may be pushed to release themotorized roller shade from the locked position, such that the enclosure550 may be rotated into the service position and the batteries 552 maybe accessed (as shown in FIG. 19 ). The release buttons 572 may belabeled with appropriate text (such as “push”) to inform the user of therequired action to release the motorized roller shade 510 from thelocked position. The release buttons 572 are located above the rollertube 514 and may be hidden from view (from below the roller tube) whenthe motorized roller shade 510 is in the locked position (as shown inFIG. 18 ). The roller tube end brackets 516 may extend away from thewindow and down towards the floor, such that the roller tube 514 isoffset horizontally and vertically from the battery enclosure 550 toprovide space above the roller tube for a user to actuate the releasebuttons 572 when the motorized roller shade 510 is in the lockedposition. Accordingly, no tools are required to release the motorizedroller shade 510 from the locked position to the service position.

As shown in FIG. 19 , each mounting bracket 570 comprises a fixedmounting portion 574 and a rotating portion 575 that is rotatablycoupled to the mounting portion. The rotating portion 575 of eachmounting bracket 570 comprises a tab 576 that is adapted to be receivedin a slot 578 in the top side of the battery enclosure 550, while thebottom side of the battery enclosure snaps into a clip (not shown) ofthe rotating portion. When a user actuates the release button 572, therotating portion 574 is operable to rotate the battery enclosure 550into the service position, such that the batteries 552 in the batterycompartment 554 may be accessed from above the motorized roller shade510. When the motorized roller shade 510 is released from the lockedposition, the center of gravity of the motorized roller shade causes thebattery enclosure 550 to rotate down on its own (i.e., without the needfor the user to physically rotate the battery enclosure towards theuser) with or without the batteries 552 installed in the batteryenclosure. Alternatively, the battery compartment 554 could be in a topside of the battery enclosure 500. While FIG. 19 only shows twobatteries 552, the battery compartment 554 of the battery enclosure 550could hold additional or different types of batteries.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing access to at least onebattery of a motorized window treatment, the motorized window treatmentincluding a covering material for covering at least a portion of anopening, the motorized window treatment also including a motor driveunit for adjusting a position of the covering material and an enclosurefor holding at least one battery for powering the motor drive unit, theenclosure and the motor drive unit disposed near the top of the opening,the method comprising: mounting the enclosure to a surface via amounting bracket; rotatably coupling a rotating portion of the mountingbracket to a mounting portion of the mounting bracket, the mountingportion adapted to be fastened to the surface and the rotating portionadapted to be coupled to the enclosure; holding the enclosure of themotorized window treatment in a first position in which the coveringmaterial is adjustable between a fully-open position and a fully-closedposition; releasing the enclosure from the first position; and after theenclosure is released from the first position, rotating the enclosureabout an axis from the first position into a second position in whichaccess is provided to an open side of the enclosure to allow for removalof the at least one battery from the enclosure in a directionperpendicular to the axis of rotation.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: biasing the rotating portion towards the mounting portionwhen the enclosure is in the second position.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein rotating the enclosure from the first position into the secondposition further comprises rotating the enclosure in a controlledmovement when the enclosure is rotated from the first position to thesecond position.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein holding the enclosureof the motorized window treatment in the first position compriseslatching the enclosure in the first position with a latch mechanism ofthe mounting bracket.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein releasing theenclosure from the first position further comprises releasing theenclosure from the first position in response to an actuation of abutton of the mounting bracket.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thecenter of gravity of the enclosure is adapted to cause the enclosure torotate away from the opening on its own when the enclosure is releasedfrom the first position.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the mountingbracket remains coupled to the surface and the enclosure remains coupledto the mounting bracket when the enclosure of the motorized windowtreatment is in the second position.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: maintaining the enclosure coupled to the surface when theenclosure is in the second position.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: holding the enclosure in the second position such that theat least one battery is prevented from falling out of the open side ofthe enclosure.
 10. A method of installing a battery in a battery-poweredmotorized window treatment, the motorized window treatment including acovering material for covering at least a portion of an opening, themotorized window treatment also including a motor drive unit foradjusting a position of the covering material and an enclosure forholding at least one battery for powering the motor drive unit, theenclosure and the motor drive unit disposed near the top of the opening,the method comprising: rotating a mounting bracket to rotate theenclosure of the motorized window treatment about an axis from a firstposition to a second position in which access is provided to an openside of the enclosure, wherein the mounting bracket mounts the enclosureto a surface and includes a rotating portion that is rotatably coupledto a mounting portion, and wherein the mounting portion is fastened tothe surface and the rotating portion is coupled to the enclosure; andinstalling the battery into a battery compartment in the enclosurethrough the open side of the enclosure.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the enclosure is configured to rest in the second position. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein installing the battery into the batterycompartment in the enclosure through the open side of the enclosurefurther comprises installing the battery in the battery compartment witha first hand while using a second hand to balance oneself.
 13. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising: after installing the batteryinto the battery compartment, rotating the enclosure from the secondposition to the first position.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinrotating the enclosure from the second position to the first positionfurther comprises locking the enclosure in the first position.
 15. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising: prior to rotating the enclosure,actuating a button to release the enclosure from the first position toallow the enclosure to be adjusted into the second position.